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Aru backs himself to bounce back in mountains – Giro d’Italia news shorts

Fabio Aru tried to shake off the negativity that enveloped his general classification hopes at the Giro d’Italia, and insisted that he can turn his race around in the mountain stages of the final ten days. Like Chris Froome, who also lost time on Sunday, Aru also dismissed suggestions that he could quit the Giro d’Italia and focus on the Tour de France.

Aru’s new coach and former Astana teammate Paolo Tiralongo told La Gazzetta dello Sport that Aru was at 80 per cent of his form ands was unable to stay with Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) and the other overall contenders due to lacking 30-50 watts of his usual power. Aru is not ill and he dismissed suggestions that he had raced too little in the build-up to the Giro d’Italia.

“On the Gran Sasso I didn’t have the legs and so I was dropped. There aren’t any other explanations. As I’ve said from the start of the race, we’ll make a final judgment on my Giro in Rome. Before doesn’t make sense,” Aru said on the rest day.

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“We need to remember Nibali from two years ago and when I finished on the podium in 2015. A lot of things, good and bad, can happen in two weeks. I’m two and half minutes back; that’s a lot but perhaps not that much. The Giro is still open, very wide open.”

Aru is not a betting man but suggested he is still worth a punt in the second half of the Giro d’Italia.

“If I had to bet on someone, I’d bet on myself. Now I’m not a favourite my odds are far better….”